How to Take Payment After a Phone or WhatsApp Order

A customer ordered by phone, WhatsApp, Messenger or email? Send a payment link or virtual basket and accept payment online without building an online shop

How to Take Payment After a Phone or WhatsApp Order

A customer has phoned, messaged you on WhatsApp or Messenger, or sent an email and wants to place an order? You do not need to send them to a full online shop or ask them to manually enter bank details. You can prepare a payment for the agreed order and send the customer a ready-to-use link.

This is particularly useful for businesses where a sale starts with a conversation. You first agree the product, service, appointment or price with the customer, and only then do you need a simple way for them to pay.

JustPayFor lets you separate these two stages. You can have the conversation wherever it suits you, then give the customer a clear route to online payment once everything has been agreed.

How does it work?

  1. Agree the order

    The customer phones or messages you. You agree the product, service, quantity, appointment and price.

  2. Prepare the payment

    Create a payment link or virtual basket that matches what the customer has ordered.

  3. The customer pays online

    Send the link by WhatsApp, text message, Messenger or email and the customer continues to payment.

A sale does not always start in an online shop

In a traditional online shop, the customer finds a product, adds it to their basket and goes through checkout. Many small businesses work differently.

The customer may want to ask a question first. They might send a message, share a photo, ask for a quote, arrange an appointment or call to check availability.

Only after that conversation do you know exactly what they need to pay.

In this situation, building a complete online shop simply to finish one already-agreed transaction may be unnecessary.

Taking payment after a phone order

Imagine a customer phones your business and books a service for £150.

After the call, you do not need to read out your bank details, ask the customer to type the correct payment reference or later work out which incoming bank transfer relates to their order.

Instead, you can prepare a payment link for that specific order and send it to the customer by text message or another messaging service.

The customer opens the link, checks the payment details and continues to the checkout handled by the payment provider connected to your account.

Taking payment after a WhatsApp or Messenger order

The same process works well when you sell through messaging services.

A customer might contact you on WhatsApp or Messenger, ask about a product, provide additional information and agree the details with you. Once everything is confirmed, you send a link to the prepared payment in the same conversation.

It is worth making one distinction clear: the customer is not paying directly inside WhatsApp or Messenger. The messaging service is simply used to share the link. The actual transaction is completed through the payment page and your connected payment provider.

Payment link or virtual basket?

The best option depends mainly on what the customer is buying.

Example: a customer orders several products through WhatsApp

A customer messages you after seeing your products on social media. They choose three items:

  • product A for £25,
  • product B for £40,
  • product C for £15.

Instead of sending only the total of £80, you can prepare a virtual basket showing all three items.

The customer opens the link and can see exactly what they are ordering and the total amount due before continuing to payment.

This becomes especially useful when orders taken through messages contain several items or additional charges.

What about taking a deposit before an appointment?

A phone call or message does not always need to end with full payment. Sometimes you only need to take part of the amount in advance.

This can be useful for:

  • appointment reservations,
  • workshops or training sessions,
  • bespoke services,
  • reserved places,
  • orders that require preparation in advance.

In these situations, you can use deposits and booking payments instead of asking for the full amount immediately.

Selling through Instagram and social media

The same model works well for sales that begin on social media.

You might post a product or service on Instagram, Facebook or another platform, then agree the actual order privately with an interested customer.

JustPayFor does not replace your social media profile or messaging service. It simply gives you a way to turn that conversation into a clear payment once the details have been agreed.

What should the customer see before paying?

The more individual the order, the more important it is that the customer understands what the payment relates to.

Rather than sending only bank details and an amount, you can give the customer a clear summary. Depending on the type of payment, this may include the name of the offer, a description, order items and the total amount due.

This gives the customer a chance to check everything before moving to the payment provider.

Does the customer need to create an account?

No. A JustPayFor seller account is used by you to create and manage sales.

Your customer can open the link you send, check the details and continue to payment without creating a JustPayFor account.

Can you send the same link to several customers?

That depends on the type of sale.

If you create a general offer that can be used by several people, you can share it more widely, for example through messages or social media.

If the payment relates to a specific customer's individual order, it is better to prepare the payment around that particular order.

What if the customer is standing next to you?

If you are speaking to the customer in person, sending them a message may not be necessary.

You can use Scan to pay instead. The customer scans a QR code with their phone and immediately opens the relevant offer or payment.

The idea is the same, only the way you share the payment changes. For a remote sale you send a link, while for an in-person sale you can show a QR code.

Where does the money go?

JustPayFor does not hold the money received from your customers.

When the customer continues to payment, the transaction is handled by the payment provider connected to your seller account. Funds are then settled according to that provider's terms.

JustPayFor manages the sales flow and payment status, while the movement of money is handled by the payment provider.

How much does this way of selling cost?

£0

monthly JustPayFor fee

JustPayFor does not charge a monthly subscription or its own additional percentage fee on the value of each sale.

Payment provider

Transaction processing

The cost of processing the payment depends on the provider connected to your account and the terms of your merchant agreement.

Which businesses can benefit most?

Service businesses

The customer first asks about availability, scope or price, then pays for the agreed service.

Social media sellers

Customers discover products on Facebook or Instagram and complete the actual order through private messages.

Bespoke orders

The final price depends on the customer's requirements, so a fixed product page in a traditional shop may not be suitable.

Frequently asked questions

Yes. Once the order details have been agreed, you can prepare a payment link or virtual basket and send it to the customer by text message, email or messaging service.

Yes. You can paste a JustPayFor payment link into a WhatsApp conversation just like any other web link. The customer opens it and continues to the prepared payment.

No. WhatsApp is used to share the link. The customer opens the payment page and the transaction itself is handled by the connected payment provider.

A payment link works well when you have agreed one amount. A virtual basket is more useful when the order contains several products or services and you want the customer to see a detailed breakdown.

No. The customer can open the link, review the details and continue to payment without creating a JustPayFor account.

The transaction is handled by the payment provider connected to the seller's account, and funds are settled according to that provider's terms. JustPayFor does not hold the sales revenue.

Turn a customer conversation into a ready-to-pay order

Agree the order by phone or message, prepare the payment and send your customer a ready-to-use link.

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